Liverpool remained firmly red as Labour held its five seats in the city.

UKIP clinched second place in West Derby as Labour's Stephen Twigg increased his majority in one of the safest Labour seats in the country.

Maria Eagle retained the seat of Garston and Halewood for Labour as the Tories took advantage of a collapse in Lib Dem support to come second.

Steve Rotheram easily held Walton with 31,222. UKIP came in second with 3,445 votes.

In Wavertree Luciana Berger held her seat with 28,401 with the TUSC coming second with 4,098.

In Riverside Green candidate Martin Dobson polled 5,372 to come a distant second to Louise Ellman’s 29,835 for Labour.

The Green Party has already received a record vote share, with at least 315,000 votes in English and Welsh seats declared so far, and has retained at least 47 deposits - more than in any other election it has stood in.

The party said it had also won its first-ever General Election "second places", taking 12.1% of the vote in Liverpool Riverside, 9.8% in Manchester Gorton and 15.8% in Sheffield Central.

GARSTON AND HALEWOOD

Maria Eagle retained the seat of Garston and Halewood for Labour as the Tories took advantage of a collapse in Lib Dem support to come second.

With turnout in the south Liverpool seat up by around 5% on 2010 Ms Eagle stormed to victory with a dramatically increased majority.

Ms Eagle, who has held the seat since 1997, collected 33,839 votes, with her majority 10,269 bigger than 2010.

Asked what the impact of a Conservative government would be on Liverpool and Merseyside, she said: "I think if the current government remains in power or the Tories form a government I think they have an obligation to consider the message that has been sent to them by the different regions and nations... They [voters in Garston and Halewood] want a change from what has happened over the last five years and I think they have every right for their voice to be heard."

Rumours in the counting hall had suggested UKIP might win second place in Ms Eagle's constituency, but Tory Martin Williams held off the challenge of Carl Schears and pushed his UKIP rival into third place.

The Lib Dems, who came second in 2010 with 8,616 votes, fell to fourth this year, with Anna Martin picking up just 2,279 supporters.

LIVERPOOL WALTON

Steve Rotheram joined his fellow Labour candidates in increasing his majority to hold onto Labour safe seat Walton and hit out at the Tories in his victory speech.

In a seven-way battle for a place in Westminster he never looked in any danger of losing his seat to any of his rivals, which included a member of the Pluralist Party and an Independent. But he did express his concern at the fact UKIP came second in his seat, describing their growth in his constituency as "worrying".

Mr Rotheram won the backing of 31,222 voters - a rise of more than 7,000 on five years ago. The huge tally in one of the safest Labour seats in the country also meant his majority increased to more than 27,000.

Speaking after his victory was announced, sparking a mass exodus of Wavertree Tennis Centre as it was the final result to be declared, he said: "The margin of victory tonight is significant and I can promise the people of Walton I will not let them down."

Of Mr Rotheram's rivals it was UKIP candidate Steve Flatman who performed best, picking up 3,445 votes to finish second while the Lib Dems, who came runner up in 2010, slumped to just 899 votes. Walton also saw the candidate who polled the smallest number of votes in Liverpool on May 7. Jonathan Dzon, of the Pluralist Party, won the backing of 23 people while Independent Alexander Karran received 56 votes.

LIVERPOOL WAVERTREE

Luciana Berger dramatically increased her majority in Liverpool Wavertree as she stormed to victory by more than 24,000 votes.

Retaining the seat she won for Labour in 2010, she said she was "overwhelmed" by the support she had received from voters in her constituency.

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will start in 8Cancel

Play now

Conservative James Pearson came second in the Labour safe seat while UKIP were behind them in third. With a total of 28,401 votes Ms Berger's support rose by more than 8,000 votes compared to five years ago as the turnout increased by just under 7%.

Speaking at Wavertree Tennis Centre, Ms Berger expressed solidarity with her Scottish Labour colleagues who lost their seats.

LIVERPOOL WEST DERBY

UKIP clinched second place in West Derby as Labour's Stephen Twigg increased his majority in one of the safest Labour seats in the count.

Neil Miney took the runner up spot with 3,475 votes while the Lib Dems - who were second in 2010 - polled less than 1,000 votes.

Meanwhile the Conservatives picked up 2,710 votes, Steve Radford 2,049 for the Liberals and Rebecca Lawson 996 for the Greens..Yet speaking after his comfortable victory had been announced.

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will start in 8Cancel

Play now

Mr Twigg, whose votes soared from 18,467 to 27,367, admitted it had been a "truly terrible night" for the Labour Party nationally, despite local successes, and said it would have to "learn lessons" from this General Election.

He said: "The people of Liverpool have once again rejected the Tories, they have rejected the Tory agenda on the NHS, the Bedroom Tax, and the future of our city which has faced the biggest cuts of any authority in this country. That message is very, very clear.

"However, in the country as a whole we have to face the fact that this is a truly terrible night for the Labour Party. The result nationally is a disaster for my constituents. It's a disaster for the country, it's a disaster for the Labour Party."